This blog publishes information typically sent through the Health Facilities Web Portal to health care entities regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Please note that the Web Portal is the official medium for business communication between the Department and licensed and Medicare/Medicaid certified health care entities. Health care entities should continue to monitor their portal accounts routinely.

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Friday, September 26, 2014

Electronic Death Registration System Update

We have completed the initial testing of the Colorado Electronic Death Registration system (EDR). The system we purchased is currently in use in Georgia, but because Colorado has many unique laws, processes and functions, we are making state-specific modifications. The system itself is sound and performing properly, although some of the functionality is not currently refined enough for training and deployment. As a result, we will be pushing back the "go live" date for EDR until late spring 2015. Hands-on computer training will held from early spring through mid-summer. Our partners will have the option to begin using the system as soon as they complete training, rather than waiting for a ‘hard’ start date for the entire state. Online training will also be available.Colorado-specific functionality is continuing to be developed, refined, and thoroughly tested. We have nearly fifty volunteers ready to assist with testing once the system is ready. These volunteers are from funeral establishments, coroner offices, hospital decedent affairs, and local offices of vital statistics. The volunteers will provide feedback on system functionality and processes to ensure that the system will meet the diverse needs of user agencies and businesses.As it is also very important to maintain the integrity of public health data collected from these records, we are looking at options for revising the hard copy record to conform to the EDR for deaths occurring on and after January 1, 2015. As the EDR conforms to the national revised death certificate, and is somewhat different from the current hard copy version used in our state, this will ensure that the data for the 2015 calendar year is complete and clean. We will very soon be asking for input from all offices regarding hard copy certificate revisions. Although the delay is disappointing, I remain enthusiastic about the overall design and functionality of the EDR. I look forward to delivering a system that meets the highest performance standards. Thank you for your time, patience and assistance in this endeavor. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact my office at cdphe.edr@state.co.us or myself directly at ronald.hyman@state.co.us or (303)-692-2164.